Synthetic Comparison - Castrol and Valvoline win

[FlyPenFly]

Okay actually this is a lot of propaganda for Amsoil but I actually really admire how well Castrol Edge with Ti and Valvoline Synpower do. They're cheap off the shelf oils you can get at Walmart for less than half the price of boutique oil but outperform Redline in things like TEOST. They also do really well overall in general. While they're not usually the best, they land favorably in almost all the tests. IMO, the ball bearing test is nearly useless as a measure of anything inside an ICE What the heck is up with Redline at TEOST?? I guess it achieves it's low NOACK by just turning solid instead? The cost comparison chart at the end seems like total nonsense to me.

 

[Kuato]

Yeah after having a look, the cost chart isn't really accurate; it's assuming the other oils can only go 4775 miles before needing to be changed, which we here all know is WELL short of most of their capabilities. For that matter, Amsoil at just over 11k is also short by a bit, depending on driving habits. I'm an Amsoil user (fanboy? dunno) and the 4-ball wear test is bunk to me - TOtally agree with you there. All the other tests do show that Amsoil is a solid oil and that the others are pretty decent also. I'd have liked to see Schaeffer Oil in there also as I think their stuff is really really good. All said once my remaining Amsoil is used up I may be making a switch to FU and....

 

[PimTac]

Valvoline always shows good results yet it gets tagged here as a cheap sodium based oil. There is a lot more to Synpower than sodium.

 

[Rolla07]

Meh. A bunch of tests that havent been reflective of what happens in a real world environment. M1 EP seems to rate quite poorly in these comparisons...ironically its still excellent oil and I havent heard anyone have any issues with it.

 

[Y_K]

What is Redline High Performance Oil? Four-Ball test? They are back with their fake 'tests'.

 

[StevieC]

I think with the Amsoil you also have to take into account the preferred customer pricing and the points program in the costs.

 

[Ben99GT]

That comparison is from 2013

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted By: FlyPenFly

Okay actually this is a lot of propaganda for Amsoil but I actually really admire how well Castrol Edge with Ti and Valvoline Synpower do. They're cheap off the shelf oils you can get at Walmart for less than half the price of boutique oil but outperform Redline in things like TEOST. They also do really well overall in general. While they're not usually the best, they land favorably in almost all the tests. IMO, the ball bearing test is nearly useless as a measure of anything inside an ICE. What the heck is up with Redline at TEOST?? I guess it achieves it's low NOACK by just turning solid instead? The cost comparison chart at the end seems like total nonsense to me.

So my only question to you, since you discount the "wear" test would be which oil will produce the least wear? The only answer will be based on the "wear" test as nothing else in the test shows anything related to wear. So instead of theories, which oil will produce the least wear?

 

[StevieC]

I think all the tests are useless because it all depends on the oils ability to cope with engine specific design and conditions. UOA is king of determining that. No one oil is best for all applications because it's a certain brand.

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted By: PimTac

Valvoline always shows good results yet it gets tagged here as a cheap sodium based oil. There is a lot more to Synpower than sodium.

Valvoline is a terrific product, always has been, I agree, way unrated. Tagged as Sodium based, agree again, some people think that is a negative without researching it. Its not sodium as we know it, it shows up as sodium in tests but is not the sodium we think of, its part of a additive package.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: alarmguy

Originally Posted By: PimTac

Valvoline always shows good results yet it gets tagged here as a cheap sodium based oil. There is a lot more to Synpower than sodium.

Valvoline is a terrific product, always has been, I agree, way unrated. Tagged as Sodium based, agree again, some people think that is a negative without researching it. Its not sodium as we know it, it shows up as sodium in tests but is not the sodium we think of, its part of a additive package.

My dad's 2012 Caravan 3.6L V6 that has 300K km's (200K Miles) was fed a steady diet of Valvoline at the quick lube shops and it consumes no oil / leaks no oil.

 

[dnewton3]

Show me direct correlation, and more importantly causation, between those tests and actual wear data from engines, and then I'll care. Until that evidence is clear, it's just marketing hype.

 

[itguy08]

Quote:

Testing was completed February 2013 by an independent, third-party lab.

Near 5 year old test results? Seriously? How much have these formulations changed in that time? Heck, Pennzoil no longer sells just "Ultra" as a Synthetic oil.

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: alarmguy

Originally Posted By: FlyPenFly

Okay actually this is a lot of propaganda for Amsoil but I actually really admire how well Castrol Edge with Ti and Valvoline Synpower do. They're cheap off the shelf oils you can get at Walmart for less than half the price of boutique oil but outperform Redline in things like TEOST. They also do really well overall in general. While they're not usually the best, they land favorably in almost all the tests. IMO, the ball bearing test is nearly useless as a measure of anything inside an ICE. What the heck is up with Redline at TEOST?? I guess it achieves it's low NOACK by just turning solid instead? The cost comparison chart at the end seems like total nonsense to me.

So my only question to you, since you discount the "wear" test would be which oil will produce the least wear? The only answer will be based on the "wear" test as nothing else in the test shows anything related to wear. So instead of theories, which oil will produce the least wear?

Sequence IVA > 4-ball for motor oil evaluation.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted By: dnewton3

Show me direct correlation, and more importantly causation, between those tests and actual wear data from engines, and then I'll care. Until that evidence is clear, it's just marketing hype.

Best post of this thread.

 

[4WD]

We should do a comparison of non applicable wear tests since they are so popular here …

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: 4WD

We should do a comparison of non applicable wear tests since they are so popular here …

and throw in a synthetic/dino pour point test at -37C, with a 5W40 synthetic and a 15W40 dino. measure the dribble down to 6 significant figures.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Those tests are just too darn old, even the Amsoil SS has been reformulated at least once since they were performed.

 

[ShotGun429]

Originally Posted By: PimTac

Valvoline always shows good results yet it gets tagged here as a cheap sodium based oil. There is a lot more to Synpower than sodium.

+1 out here in the field i see the results Valvoline has. Its way underated.

 

[wemay]

Quote:

Testing was completed February 2013 by an independent, third-party lab.

Originally Posted By: itguy08

Near 5 year old test results? Seriously? How much have these formulations changed in that time? Heck, Pennzoil no longer sells just "Ultra" as a Synthetic oil.

An interesting read but above comments are on point.